The first of three debates for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat is
today. Incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican challenger Josh
Mandel will meet for the first time to prove who has the better vision
for the state. Democrats have repeatedly criticized Mandel for
dishonesty and dodging questions. Republicans have criticized Brown for
supporting President Barack Obama’s policies, including the auto bailout
and Obamacare. A more substantive analysis of the candidates’
differences can be found here. In aggregate polling, Brown currently
leads by five points. The debate will be at 12:30 p.m. on C-SPAN.

Paul Ryan, the Republican candidate for vice president,
will be in Cincinnati today. Ryan’s event will take place at Lunken
Airport at noon. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, was
in Lebanon Saturday. With the second presidential debate between
President Barack Obama and Romney tomorrow, both campaigns are turning
up the events in Ohio, a state that is widely considered a must-win for both candidates. According
to aggregate polling, Obama still holds Ohio by 2.2 points despite a
nationwide post-debate bounce in the polls for Romney.

Bicyclists rejoiced Saturday as McMillan Street was
converted back into a two-way street. William Howard Taft Road will
undergo a similar transition Oct. 20. The conversion of both roads came
thanks to the approval of Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who pushed the
motion in order to revitalize the business sector in the neighborhood.

The rest of Ohio’s school report card data will be
released Wednesday. The report card data grades schools to see how
school districts are doing in a variety of categories. The release for
the data was initially delayed due to an ongoing investigation by the
state auditor that’s looking into accusations of attendance reporting
fraud at some school districts. Previously, the state auditor released
preliminary findings criticizing some school districts and the Ohio
Department of Education for some findings regarding attendance fraud.

A new report found Cincinnati still has a lot of work to
do. The city ranked No. 10 out of 12 similar cities. Cincinnati excelled
in job creation and housing opportunities, but it did poorly in
categories regarding migration and age.

Bob Taft, former Republican governor of Ohio, is going
green. The Ohio Environmental Council is rewarding Taft for
standing up for the environment during his gubernatorial term.

A new report has some sobering notes for Cincinnatians.
Overall, the city ranked No. 10 out of 12 similar cities in the report’s
rankings, with the city doing well in housing opportunities and job growth but not so well in
other categories. The No. 10 spot is the same rank Cincinnati held in
the 2010 report.

The report, which was put together by Agenda 360 and
Vision 2015, compares Cincinnati to other cities in a series of economic
indicators. The cities compared were Cincinnati; Austin, Texas;
Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Columbus; Denver; Indianapolis, Ind.;
Minneapolis, Minn.; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; and St. Louis.

First, the good news: Cincinnati has an unemployment rate
lower than the national average, at 7.2 percent. As far as job growth,
total jobs, per-person income and average annual wage goes, Cincinnati
ranked No. 6. Cincinnati was also No. 5 in poverty ranks — meaning the
city had the fifth least people below 200 percent of the federal poverty
level among the 12 cities measured.For the most part, Cincinnati moved up in these ranks since 2010.

When it comes
to housing opportunities, Cincinnati claimed the No. 2 spot, only losing to
Indianapolis. That was a bump up from the No. 3 spot in 2010.

The bad news: Cincinnati didn’t do well in almost
every other category. In terms of educational attainment — meaning the
percent of the population 25 years or older who have a bachelor’s
degree or higher — Cincinnati was No. 9, with 29.3 percent having a bachelor's degree or higher in 2010. That was a slight improvement from the No. 10 rank in the previous report, which found 28.5 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2009.

Cincinnati did poorly in net migration as well. The city was
No. 10 in that category, only beating out St. Louis and Cleveland. The
silver lining is the city actually gained 1,861 people in 2009 — an
improvement from losing 1,526 people in 2008.

Cincinnati also seems to have an age problem. The city
tied with Pittsburgh for the No. 10 spot with only 60.2 percent of the 2011 population made up of people between the ages of 20 and 64. The report also says the
city has too many old people, an age group that tends to work less, provide less tax revenue and use more government and health services. Cincinnati ranked No. 8 in terms of “Old Age
Dependency,” with 20.4 percent of the city made up of people aged 65 and
older in 2011.

However, the report does have a positive note through all
the numbers: “In fact, our current pace of growth, especially in the
people indicators, exceeds many of our competitors and if this pace
continues, our rank could be much improved by our next report.”

The vice presidential debate between Democratic Vice
President Joe Biden and Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan took place last night.
The general consensus among pundits is the debate was a draw, with perhaps Biden edging out ahead.
Regardless of who won, political scientists say debates have
little-to-no electoral impact in the long term, especially vice
presidential debates.

Mitt Romney made a bit of a flub yesterday. He toldThe Columbus Dispatch,
“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have
insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you
have your heart attack.’” However, that’s not completely accurate.
Research shows the uninsured are a lot more likely to die from a heart
attack, mostly because they get substantially less preventive health
care.

PolitiFact Ohio says Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is
wrong about Issue 2. Specifically, Husted said if a member of the
independent commission was bribed, the member could not be kicked out of
office. PolitiFact says the claim is false because methods for removing
unelected officials from office exist outside of the redistricting
amendment. If Issue 2 passed, redistricting would be handled by an
independent citizens commission. Currently, elected officials redraw
district boundaries, but they often use the process for political
advantage. The Republican majority redrew the First Congressional
District, which includes Cincinnati, to include Warren County, giving
Republicans an advantage by giving them more rural voters that are more
likely to vote for them.

But Husted did have some good news yesterday. A federal
appeals court judge upheld a decision requiring election officials to
count provisional ballots that were brought about due to poll worker
mistakes. Husted didn’t much care for that part of the ruling. However,
the judge also said a legal signature must be required on every provisional ballot,
overturning that part of the previous decision. A very small win, but
Husted seemed happy in a statement: “I am extremely pleased that the Court of Appeals
agreed with me that we must have a valid, legal signature on all
provisional ballots.”

The mayor and Cincinnati Public Schools announced a new
joint effort that won a $40,000 grant yesterday. The effort will go to
50 tutors, who will help 100 students meet the state’s new Third Grade
Reading Guarantee.

However, a loophole in the Third Grade Reading Guarantee may allow third-graders to skip tests to move onto the fourth grade.

Out of 12 similar regions, Cincinnati ranks No. 10 on 15
indicators including jobs, cost of living and population. Cincinnati did
fairly well in terms of just jobs, though; the city was No. 6 in that
category. The ranks come from Vision 2015 and Agenda 360.

With the support of Gov. John Kasich, Ohio is trying to do
more with university research. The theme of the push is to build
stronger links between universities and the private sector to boost
stronger, entrepreneurial research.

Josh Mandel, state treasurer and Ohio’s Republican
candidate for the U.S. Senate, is in trouble again for not answering
questions. A testy exchange on live radio started when Ron Ponder, the
host, asked Mandel about potential cronyism in the treasurer’s office,
and Mandel replied by implying Ponder is with the Brown campaign. Ponder
got so fed up he eventually ended the exchange by saying, “Hang up on
this dude, man.”

Does eating more chocolate earn a nation more Nobel prizes? Science says no. I say yes.

The vice presidential debate is tonight. The debate will
be between Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan. After the last
debate, some pundits are saying Biden needs to win this one to slow down
the Romney-Ryan momentum. But keep in mind political scientists say
debates have little to no electoral impact in the long term, so it’s
possible most of the post-debate polling in favor of Mitt Romney could
indicate a temporary bounce. The debate is at 9 p.m. and will be aired on all the big networks. The full schedule of presidential debates can be found here.

Romney might campaign in Lebanon, Ohio this weekend. Ohio
is considered a must-win for the Republican presidential candidate. Even
with a post-debate bounce, Romney still looks to be the underdog in
Ohio. The latest poll from NBC, Wall Street Journal and Marist shows
Romney down six points to Obama among likely voters in the state with a
margin of error of 3.1. The poll does show the race tightening from the
eight-point gap measured on Oct. 3, but it’s apparently not enough. By
itself, the poll could be considered an outlier and too optimistic for
Obama, but it actually echoes the latest CNN poll and aggregate polling
taken after the debate. In aggregate polling, Romney is down 1.6 points
in Ohio after the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll. Before the latest poll, he was
down 0.8 points.

A new poll shows a slim majority of Ohioans now support
same-sex marriage. The poll found 52 percent of Ohioans support it,
while 37 percent want it to stay illegal. The poll gives a shot of
optimism to Freedom to Marry Ohio, an amendment that would legalize
same-sex marriage in the state. Supporters say the amendment could be on
the Ohio ballot as soon as November 2013.

State Auditor Dave Yost wants to put the attendance fraud
investigation in context. When talking with Gongwer yesterday, Yost
explained that the potential data rigging going could have cost schools additional funding for at-risk students: “I suspect we
probably have schools in Ohio that ought to be getting that extra money
for those extra services to help those schools that are most at risk,
and that money is not flowing because the data is not accurate.”

Will county budget cuts hurt public safety? As the county
commissioners try to sort out the budget without raising taxes, Hamilton County’s sheriff
department could see some cuts, according to Commissioner Greg Hartmann. He insists the cuts will not hurt public safety, however.

A Nuns on the Bus tour is encouraging voters to support
politicians that provide for the poor. The tour will avoid being
partisan and mentioning candidates' names, but the general vibe of the tour implies
support for Democratic candidates.

Josh Mandel, Ohio’s Republican candidate for the U.S.
Senate, has gotten another rating from PolitiFact Ohio. This one is
“Mostly False” for Mandel’s claim that opponent Democratic Sen. Sherrod
Brown has missed more than 350 votes in the Senate. Brown has only
missed 21 out of 1,779 votes since he joined the Senate, and he hasn’t
missed any votes this year. The Mandel campaign claims the ad was
keeping track of Brown’s entire public career, but 83 of the votes Brown
missed in that time period were in 2000, when Brown was in a car accident
in which he broke his ribs and vertebrae.

The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll also had some bad news for Mandel.
He was found to be down 11 points to Brown among likely voters.
Mandel is now down 4.2 points in aggregate polling.

The right-leaning Tax Foundation ranked Ohio No. 39 for
business tax climate. The conservative research group gave Ohio good
marks for unemployment insurance and the corporate tax rate, but it
criticized the state for its individual income tax and property tax. New
York, New Jersey and California were at the bottom of the overall
rankings, and Wyoming, South Dakota and Nevada were at the top.

Jobless claims fell to 339,000 — the lowest in four and a half years.
Coupled with last week’s employment numbers, the news indicates that an
economic recovery is truly underway. However, jobless claims are
very volatile, so it’s uncertain whether the drop will stick.

New poll shows slim Ohio majority embraces gay marriage

For the first time, a Washington Post poll shows 52 percent of Ohioans support same-sex marriage, and only 37 percent say it should be illegal.

With a margin of error of 4.5 points, it’s possible the
September poll could be too optimistic, but the poll shows a sharp
contrast to 2004, when 62 percent of Ohioans voted in favor of a
constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman.

The poll also found support for same-sex marriage growing
in Florida and Virginia. In Florida, 54 percent support same-sex
marriage, while 33 percent say it should be illegal. In Virginia, 49
percent support same-sex marriage, and 40 percent want it to be illegal.
Both are increases in support in comparison to previous years.

The news comes at a time when FreedomOhio is stepping up
its efforts to get an amendment legalizing same-sex marriage in Ohio on the
2013 ballot.

CORRECTION:
This article originally credited Equality Ohio for the amendment. The
amendment push is being led by FreedomOhio, a different pro-gay
marriage organization.

The campaign for Freedom to Marry Ohio, the amendment that would legalize same-sex marriage, previously touted
an economic study that showed Ohio could bring in $100-126 million of
economic growth within three years of legalizing same-sex marriage and
sustain 1,160-1,450 Ohio jobs. In Hamilton County, same-sex marriage
legalization would bring in $8.3 million. However, the study did not
take into account a phenomenon dubbed “marriage tourism,” which involves
same-sex couples visiting a state mostly to get married; so it’s
possible the economic impact could be even greater than the study
suggests.

The study also found that more than 9,800 out of more than
19,600 same-sex marriage couples in Ohio would marry within three years
if it was legal, and nearly 900 out of nearly 1,800 in Hamilton County
would marry within three years.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg previously touted
same-sex marriage legalization for its economic boost to his city. He said it had
produced $259 million in economic growth in New York City.

Today is the last day to register to vote, and in-person
early voting is underway. Register to vote and vote at your nearest
board of election, which can be located here.

Hamilton County commissioners agree on not raising the
sales tax. That effectively rules out two of three plans laid out by the
county administrator. The one plan left would not cut public safety, but it would make cuts to the courts, criminal justice system, administrative departments, commissioner departments and the board of elections.

It seems other news outlets are now scrutinizing online
schools. A Reuters report pointed out state officials — including some
in Ohio — are not happy with results from e-schools. Even Barbara
Dreyer, CEO of the e-school company Connections Academy, told Reuters
she’s disappointed with performance at e-schools. A CityBeatlook into e-schools in August found similarly disappointing results.

Ohio Democrats are asking federal and state officials for
an investigation into Murray Energy, the Ohio-based coal company that
has been accused of coercing employees into contributing to Republican
political campaigns. In the statement calling for action, Ohio
Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said, “Thanks to this report,
now we know why coal workers and miners have lent themselves to the
rallies, ads, and political contributions. They’ve been afraid.”

Councilman Chris Seelbach is following up on information
obtained during public safety meetings. The most consistent concerns
Seelbach heard were worries about loitering and young people breaking
curfew.

The state auditor says the Ohio Department of Education
(ODE) could save $430,000 a year if it moved its student information
database in-house. Current law prohibits ODE from having access to the
data for privacy reasons, but State Auditor Dave Yost says it’s
unnecessary and “wastes time and money.”

It seems Duke Energy is quickly integrating into its recent merger with Progress Energy. The company's information technology, nuclear and energy-supply departments are fully staffed and functional.

It might not feel like it sometimes, but parking in Cincinnati is still pretty cheap.

Scientific research is increasingly pointing to lead as an explanation for people’s crazy grandparents. Research indicates even small programs cleaning up lead contamination can have massive economic and education returns.

Kings Island is selling off pieces of the Son of Beast.
The troubled roller coaster was torn down after years of being shut
down.

In-person early voting is underway in Ohio. Find your
nearest polling booth here. Tomorrow is also the last day to register to
vote.

A federal appeals court upheld the decision to allow
in-person early voting for everyone during the three days prior to the
election. The decision comes as a big win to President Barack Obama’s
campaign, which filed a lawsuit to restore in-person early voting on the
weekend and Monday before Election Day. Republicans in the state have
repeatedly pushed against expanded early voting, citing racial politics
and costs. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said Friday he will decide
what to do with the ruling after the weekend. The court ruling means Husted could close down all boards of election on the
three days before Election day, eliminating early voting for everyone —
including military voters. If Husted doesn’t act, individual county
boards of election will decide whether to stay open or closed.

The Hamilton County Board of Commissioners is discussing
the budget today. It has a few options, but all of them involve cuts.

A recently released audit by the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) found the private prison sold to
the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has some serious problems.
The prison only met 66.7 percent of Ohio’s standards, and 47 violations
were found. CCA says it’s working with ODRC to resolve the problems. The
news mostly confirmed the findings of CityBeat’s in-depth look into
private prisons.

The University of Cincinnati is turning up its search for a
new president this week. First up for consideration: Provost and
Interim President Santa Ono.

The Associated Press says Cincinnati is a changed city thanks to recent development funding.

There will be a bar crawl to support the Anna Louise Inn
on Oct. 13. The bar crawl, hosted by Ohioans United to Protect Abused
Women, will last from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets will be sold for $10 with
all proceeds going to the Anna Louise Inn. Participating bars will be
Milton's Prospect Hill Tavern, Neon's, The Drinkery, MOTR, JAPS and
Arnold's Bar.

Mayor Mark Mallory challenged San Francisco’s mayor to a
chili cook-off to benefit the city that wins the Reds-Giants playoffs.
Mallory touted some fighting words in a statement announcing the
friendly bet: “I sure hope San Francisco Chili is as good as Mayor Lee
says it is, that way it raises lots of money for Cincinnati’s youth,
after the Reds send the Giants packing in the first round.”

Meet the chair of the U.S. House Science Committee's panel on investigations and oversight. He says evolution and the big bang theory are “lies straight from the pit of Hell.”

The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in
September — the lowest jobless rate in nearly four years. The country
added 114,000 jobs during the month, and labor participation actually
rose with 418,000 people joining the labor force. Jobs numbers for July
and August were also revised upward, indicating that the summer’s
economy was not as weak as previously estimated. Unlike previous reports
that were mired with dropping labor participation rates and job
additions below expectations, this report paints a generally rosy
picture of a recovering economy.

A new report found Ohio-based Murray Energy might be
coercing employees into making campaign contributions to Republicans. It
seems Bob Murray, Murray Energy’s CEO, directly encourages employees to
make donations through memos and strong language. As a result, the
company has an unusually high amount of donations to Republican
candidates, including senatorial candidate Josh Mandel, presidential
candidate Mitt Romney and House Speaker John Boehner. The company’s PAC and
staffers are the sixth biggest source of funding for Mandel.

By their own admission, Republicans misrepresented Issue
2. The good news is they have agreed to stop using some of the
misleading language. If Issue 2 is approved by voters, it will give
redistricting powers to an independent citizens commission. Currently,
elected officials redraw the district boundaries, and they use the
system in politically advantageous ways. The Republican majority redrew
the First Congressional District, which includes Cincinnati to include
Warren County, which places less emphasis on urban voters that typically
vote Democrat and more emphasis on rural voters that typically vote
Republican. CityBeat previously covered redistricting and Voters First’s
reform here.

The state auditor gave a mixed review to Ohio’s schools
and education department yesterday. In an interim report, the auditor
criticized a handful of school districts for scrubbing attendance
reports and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) for having poor
oversight. ODE promised “additional safeguards” in response to the
report.

Gov. John Kasich is continuing his privatization campaign.
The governor is finally close to leasing the Ohio Turnpike, and he says
that could raise more than $1 billion.

It turns out Kasich’s number about Ohio’s auto industry
losing 500 jobs might be correct, but only because of the time frame and
terms Kasich used. In general, the auto industry in Ohio has
improved since 2009.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is leading the
charge, but it’s only the beginning. A few movies are taking advantage
of the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, which is meant to bring film
production to Ohio. Seven films will be filmed in Ohio: Underdogs, Crooked Tree, BloodofRedemption, The Tribunal, A Dog Named
Suki, In Other Words and The Do Over. Since the tax credit began,
the Ohio Film Office has helped employ more than 19,000 Ohioans and
added nearly $205 million to Ohio’s economy.

Some in the aerospace business want southwest Ohio to take
bigger advantage of the area’s strong aerospace industry and make it
stronger.

Update on Ohio Supreme Court candidate William O’Neill’s
demands for Justice Robert Cupp to “recuse or refuse” due to campaign
donations: Mark Weaver, Cupp’s spokesperson, responded, saying, “Mr.
O'Neill previously raised this argument with disciplinary authorities by
filing a complaint. It was reviewed by disciplinary authorities, and
they unanimously dismissed it as having no merit.”

A study found students enrolled in parents’ health care
plans are 5.7 percent more likely to attend college full time. The
finding is good news for Obamacare, which forces insurance
companies to allow sons and daughters to stay on family insurance plans
until they turn 26.

The first presidential debate took place last night. Most of the
“liberal media” says Mitt Romney beat President Barack Obama, but the
impact of the relatively dull debate is probably being overstated as the
media tries to sensationalize some sort of comeback narrative for Romney. Although
the debates are important for capturing a candidate’s policies and
speaking ability, they don’t matter much in political terms.
Policy-wise, it seems Romney ran to the center last night.If last night’s debate wasn’t enough debate for you, here are the three most awkward presidential debate moments in history.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus held
a conference call with Ohio reporters yesterday in response to Vice
President Joe Biden’s comments that the middle class has been “buried”
in the past four years. Priebus claimed the
Republican ground game in Ohio will “crush” Democrats. But that’s going
to require a lot of work. As it stands, Obama and Democratic Sen.
Sherrod Brown are beating their respective Republican opponents pretty
badly in aggregate polling.

PolitiFact says Republican claims that Issue 2 will create
a redistricting commission that will “have a blank check to spend our
money” are false. While there is no cap on spending designated in Issue
2, that does not mean the redistricting commission will get infinite
funding. If Issue 2 is approved by voters, redistricting will be handled
by an independent citizens commission. If Issue 2 is rejected by
voters, redistricting will continue being handled by politicians that
commonly use the system in politically advantageous ways. A Republican
majority redistricted the First Congressional District, which includes
Cincinnati, to also include Warren County. The new boundaries give
Republicans an advantage by putting more emphasis on rural voters, which
typically vote Republican, instead of urban voters, which typically vote
Democrat. CityBeat previously covered the redistricting process and Issue 2 here.

An analysis by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management
found Issue 2 would cost the state about $11-$15.2 million over eight
years. That’s about $1.4-$1.9 million a year, or about 0.005-0.007
percent of Ohio’s budget for the 2013 fiscal year.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) and the
Cincinnati-based Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC) have settled out
of court in a case involving health care in prisons. OJPC brought the
case forward with a lawsuit in 2003, arguing that inmates were not
receiving adequate health care as required by the Ohio Constitution.
Courts agreed in 2005, and they created an oversight committee to ensure
medical standards rose. Today, health care in prisons is much better. With the
settlement, OJPC and ODRC will continue watching over medical policies
and procedures for the next two years, but courts no longer have an
oversight mandate.

City Council unanimously approved six projects for historic tax credits yesterday.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank reclaimed its top spot
for local bank deposits this year, although data released by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shows it might never have lost the
top spot to U.S. Bank.

U.S. service firms, which employ 90 percent of Americans,
grew at their fastest rate in six months. The boost was brought about
due to rising consumer demand.

Ever curious about why politicians use similar body
language in all their public appearances? The New York Times has an
explanation.

Josh Mandel, state treasurer and Republican U.S.
senatorial candidate for Ohio, is denying he physically confronted a
campaign tracker. According to Mandel, the tracker approached and
confronted him, not the other way around. But the video of the
confrontation shows Mandel approaching and getting really close to the
tracker first. Ohio Democrats, who said Mandel’s campaign is a “campaign
of unending dishonesty,” were quick to jump on another example of
Mandel possibly being dishonest. CityBeat covered Mandel’s notorious
dishonesty here. Mandel is running against Democratic incumbent Sen.
Sherrod Brown.

The presidential debates are tonight at 9 p.m. A full
schedule of future debates can be found here. Whoever does better, keep
in mind debates rarely influence elections.

Michelle Obama was in town yesterday. She spoke to a crowd
of 6,800, asking them to take part in Ohio’s early voting
process and encourage friends and family to do the same.

Grocery store competition could soon be bringing lower prices to the Greater Cincinnati area, according to analysts.

JobsOhio chief Mark Kvamme is stepping down. The
high-profile venture capitalist, who was originally from California, was
originally recruited by Gov. John Kasich to lead the Ohio Department of
Development. But soon
Kvamme hopped onto JobsOhio, a nonprofit company established by Kasich
and the state legislature to bring investment into Ohio. Under Kvamme’s
leadership, JobsOhio, which is supposed to replace the Department of Development, has brought in 400 companies to invest in Ohio,
leading to $6.1 billion in capital investment, according to a press
release. But the nonprofit company has been heavily criticized by
liberal groups like Progress Ohio, which say JobsOhio is
unconstitutional. Lower courts have generally legitimized Progress
Ohio’s claims, but the Ohio Supreme Court recently turned down a case
dealing with JobsOhio. The court said a lower court would have to give a
declaratory judgment first.

William O’Neill, former judge and Democratic candidate for
the Ohio Supreme Court, is asking Republican justices Robert Cupp and
Terrence O’Donnell to “recuse or refuse.” O’Neill says the Republican
justices are sitting on cases that involve FirstEnergy, an Akron-based
energy company that has contributed to the re-election campaigns of Cupp
and O’Donnell. O’Neill says the conflict of interest diminishes faith
in the highest court of Ohio’s justice system.

A new study on Taser use in Hamilton County found local
law enforcement have some problematic policies on the books and in
practice. The study was put together by a local law firm that’s
demanding policy reform.

Americans United for Life (AUL) is celebrating a federal
court ruling against Planned Parenthood that maintains Ohio regulations on an abortion drug. The
regulations require physicians to administer the drug in a clinic or
physician’s office, and the drug may only be taken within 49 days of
gestation. AUL says health groups like Planned Parenthood want to avoid
sound health regulations, but Planned Parenthood argues the regulations
make it too difficult for women to use the drug.

Natalie Portman is in a new commercial in support of President Barack Obama. In the ad, she touts Obama’s support of women’s rights.